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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>18 month old eating issues....
JJPlaycare 12:15 PM 09-21-2010
I posted about this child awhile back when he was right around 1! At that time I thought I was making ground, but hmmm here I am again still struggling with him! The child will not eat anything in which I consider healthy and now his father told me one day picking up that he won't even drink milk for them anymore! UGH I know this is the case because he sits in his little chair and says "juice, juice, juice" over and over again! I treat juice as a treat here and all of my meals are served with milk, I give him his milk and he does drink it even though he is saying "juice" well apparently he won't do that at home! Father tells me "Oh good well at least he is drinking it here" WHAT??? He is a baby, for crying out loud, be the parent!! I didn't say anything about it, just thought well that answers alot of my questions! I hold his milk/cup/liquid until he starts eating and have been doing this since he was around 1 otherwise he slams his cup and doesn't eat anything and this was mostly my concern back when I posted with him, Well, well, well some new issues! LOL He will not eat anything unless it is JUNK and it is driving me CRAZY! The only things I can count on him eating are canned peas (nope not fresh or frozen even), fish sticks, mac n cheese (like the Kraft out of the box kind, but not homemade) and any sort of cracker or treat!! Seriously that is it and I am going crazy because he will simply refuse to eat and I have to give him his milk or he will just not eat anything and will completely go with out! This has been going on for MONTHS, it is so bad that the rest of the kids cheer and celebrate when this boy eats! I am at my witts end with it, I have talked to the parents SEVERAL times about it, but they don't seem concerned and just blow me off, I am now starting to think that is ALL they feed him!!! So how am I suppose to get anywhere if they don't try!! I don't know I have never dealt with anything this bad, yes I have dealt with picky eaters, but nothing like this!! I am not going to serve him a different meal than all the other kids! I ALWAYS make him a plate and give him each of the food items and I throw it away almost everyday and he will sit and scream the entire time we are eating and simply refuse to eat ANYTHING or even try it!! I don't know I have also resorted to skipping out on his snack and instead saving his lunch and giving that to him at snack time, this hasn't worked yet, he is so stubborn and will go days without eating here!! I don't know what they do when they get home make the kid 3 boxes of Kraft mac n cheese or what because he has to be starving! I don't know! He does eat fruit like a champ, but I am sorry I am not going to feed a child half a watermelon for lunch because he won't eat anything else, honestly I serve fruit here to all the kids like a dessert! I don't know I need advice this is driving me batty!
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Live and Learn 01:25 PM 09-21-2010
I always offer veggies and proteins first. When that is done, fruit. When that is done, crackers or salty snacks. I have my parents send their own lunches.
No juice EVER. I have asked parents to leave desserts for home.
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tenderhearts 02:45 PM 09-21-2010
Not that this will be much help but I had a 2 yr old dkb that his parents told me when he joined my care that all he'll eat at home is chicken noodle soup, she said just serve whatever you normally serve and he'll eat when he's hungry. He as the same way he wouldn't eat anything I made, other than he'd eat crackers at snack, not all. So for the first couple weeks he didn't eat anything at lunch, then finally finally he'd eat some, pizza subs, dino nuggets, fish sticks, grilled cheese if I said it was cheese pizza, apples, but every day he refused to eat I'd remind him snack time wasn't for a few hours, but then he'd refuse most snacks, then finally he'd eat a granola bar, or a banana. It's so aggravating. I'd just keep serving and he'll eat when he's hungry.
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grandmom 02:50 PM 09-21-2010
A veteran of several picky eaters here.

Your job is to serve the food in a wholesome manner, with a good attitude. The kid's job is to eat it or not. Don't take it personally. Just don't offer anything else if he won't eat what you served. Never. Never. Never. Offer the least amount of milk you are legally required. And water at snacks. He won't starve.

There's nothing you can do about the parents. They will do whatever they want, regardless of what you ask or need.

I wish you well.
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MyAngels 02:54 PM 09-21-2010
It's a shame, isn't it, when parents don't seem to care very much about making sure their kids have good eating habits? I have had several kids over the years a lot like this, and all I can say is just keep serving the good stuff and eventually they seem to come around. I try, too, to keep mealtimes from becoming a battle, just try to keep it low key - if they won't eat, then they won't eat. The one concession I have made, at times, is to give a meal supplement drink in place of milk (like Pediasure or Ensure), just because it makes me feel better that they might be getting at least some nutrition from that.
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Live and Learn 03:30 PM 09-21-2010
I agree completely with Grandmom.
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katie 04:22 PM 09-21-2010
I have a 3 yr old who eats nothing but junk. She will eat pb&j. That's it. She wants chips. My husband usually has chips when he is here and sometimes my kids get one or 2 if they eat all their fruits, veggies, and sandwhich, etc. She eats the pb&j drinks the milk and that's it. She started trying to get me to give her junk. No way. Nothing if you don't eat. I have had her for 4 months and I am serious when I say she has never put one single not ONE single piece of fruit or vegetable ever. ever. Not one. I can't believe that a child can even be healthy that way! I said something to mom. She didn't seem concerned. The child is always tired and grumpy. can't imagine why! You can't make the child eat, just serve what you do and if he doesn't eat, he doesn't. I wouldn't cater to him. Obviously the older he gets the worse it is going to get for you! Hang in there. When my 3 yr old dcg left today she threw a fit in front of her dad b/c I would not give her a bag of chips to take home!
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SilverSabre25 04:56 PM 09-21-2010
Offer him the healthy stuff. He will eat it if and when he is hungry. Grandmom got it exactly right: It's your job to serve the healthy stuff and his job to eat it. It is very possible that he's never been offered the healthy stuff before and it is therefore unfamiliar to him. Some children take many exposures to an unfamiliar food before they will try it, let alone like it. I have one DCB who wouldn't eat at all for the first few weeks, then started eating bready things like crackers, and is now up to eating fruit and bready things, and carrots, which shocked the heck out of me! Don't make it a power struggle; acknowledge if he does eat ("You tried the carrot! Yummy carrot! MMmmm!") and you might get somewhere.

But...you might not. Some kids are just simply picky eaters. Picky eating to extremes can be a sign of something like a sensory issue, such as Sensory Processing Disorder. My nephew grew up being offered very healthy foods and yet is very, very, VERY picky. He does have SPD and has improved a lot with therapy, and I think the eating is somewhat improved too. I just wanted to throw this out there for you to keep in mind that possibly the picky eating is a sign of something you will not be able to fix, and it might not be the parents' fault.
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GretasLittleFriends 08:50 PM 09-21-2010
Try offering ketchup or ranch dressing to dip his food in. Granted those aren't the most healthy dips, but they might help get the better food into him.
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JJPlaycare 06:30 AM 09-22-2010
I do exactly as Grandmom says and I also save his lunch and give it to him for snack!! I give him his milk at lunch after listening to him scream the entire hour of lunch and he gets what he needs there at least it makes me feel a little better, I then give him water with snack! I thought the battle was just over his cup so I thought fine little man I will give you your cup with lunch, but I put water in it until he starts eating, but he won't drink it and he won't eat, so I HAVE to give him some sort of milk - I can't withhold it! LOL I am not sure, if this was only going on for a couple weeks I wouldn't feel horrible I have dealt with that but this has been 6+ months and there is no improvement! Well thanks guys for your support and your ideas, I guess I will just stick to what I am doing and hopefully SOMEDAY he decides to eat and realizes that I don't serve fish sticks, Kraft mac n cheese and Canned peas daily here! LOL I will just continue to give him the same plate of food I give the rest of the children and keep my fingers crossed that SOMEDAY he decides to try something on the plate! HAHAHAHA Hopefully I will be updating you all soon!!
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